Lionsgate
In 2013 I was blessed with one of the best action films of all-time, John Wick starring Keanu Reeves. It was later followed up with a sequel four years later. John Wick returns for a third time in Parabellum, which is Latin for ‘prepare for war’, and provides fans with one of the best trilogies of all-time. The third film continues the story from the first two films and Wick’s actions now have consequences. In the second John Wick film, Wick killed a man on the sacred grounds of the Continental Hotel, a safe place for all assassins living in New York. The world that John Wick lives in is so complex and has many rules that Wick broke. At the end of the second film, Ian McShane’s character, Winston, who is the head of the Continental Hotel, gave John Wick one hour before everyone starts hunting him down. Parabellum, starts with that one hour coming to an end and a bounty set for $14 million for anyone who can kill John Wick. I just love how each of these three movies is one long story.
The first film was much more of a smaller, personal story for John Wick, who was dealing with the loss of his wife and his puppy. He sought revenge on the people who killed his dog but ended getting himself caught in something much bigger. The film wanted to establish the character first before it started setting the world Wick lived in. The second film got to expand the world by introducing more characters and the rules that come with the life Wick used to live. The third film connects with the first two films by giving his actions from the first film consequences. We learn more of John Wick’s life through new characters played by Halle Berry and Angelica Huston. We are able to understand certain motives by Wick by learning about his past and why he is doing what he is doing.
One of the biggest surprises was the casting of Halle Berry. I was afraid that the franchise was just trying to bring in bigger names because it was getting popular now. Halle Berry’s character, who is connected to Wick’s past, offered many intense scenes. She came equipped with her highly trained, vicious canines. Berry was brutal in her role and her dogs were impressive with how they assisted in a violent shoot out scene.
Keanu Reeves still rocks as John Wick and one of my favorite things about the character is how feared he is. I love watching the making of these movies because it shows how Reeves trains for the movie. I was impressed with his action scenes in the first two films, but he outdoes himself in his third outing as the character. He is up against so many different people wanting to kill him for $14 million and is constantly being chased by someone. Knives are being thrown at him, men much taller than he is are attacking him, and he may or may not do it with losing a finger. No one can stop Wick.
With starting the film minutes before his hour is up, it throws us straight into the film and the action. The movie started with a lot of tension and grabbed a hold of us and never let us go. The whole movie is just John Wick trying to survive and the suspense kept growing. Towards the end of the film when Wick is at his lowest, I actually wondered if they were going to kill John Wick off and end the trilogy because he was beaten down constantly by a new group of people trying to take over the Continental.
The action scenes are still handled beautifully with exceptional camerawork. This movie easily could have been terrible if the film utilized quick edited action scenes, but by having the camera linger on the action stars, the action felt so real. The scenes were brutal and violet, which is perfect for a John Wick film.
John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum is one of the best action films I have ever seen. All three of the John Wick movies are filmed remarkably well and Reeves gives each scene his all. This ends up being one of my favorite trilogies of all-time, but the film is set up for a fourth outing from Reeves, which I am totally ready for. It just needs to happen sooner than later.
John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum has a run time of 2 hours 10 minutes and is rated R for pervasive strong violence, and some language.
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